Rethinking "Image of the Child" 10:30 Wonder Studio Class

 Some of you may know that I am heavily inspired by the Preprimary schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy.  When I speak of “the Italians”, that is who I am referring to.  Reggio Emilia is not a curriculum or a method (such as Montessori) but is a CITY in Italy.  The preschools there have been regarded as the best in the world.  American educators have spent the past 2 decades attempting to understand, replicate, and try as they might, make a curriculum out of it.  It’s so hard for some of us to accept that some things cannot be replicated, packaged and sold.  The Italians often state to well-meaning early childhood teachers, You cannot copy what we do (we are in a different country with a very different culture), let us instead inspire you to use your own community, culture, and image of the child to create your own interpretation.

 I often think about my own “Image of the child”…

 Do I think children are capable? Or do I find them helpless?

Are children intentional in their explorations?  Or are they simply incidental and cute?

Are they knowledgeable or do they need to be filled with knowledge?

Are they self-motivated and instinctual or do I need to offer motivation and reason?

 Do children need moments of quiet reflection, observation, chaos, and following Mommy around the house?? OR…  Do children need to be entertained and kept busy?

Do children think deeply or are they only skimming the surface?

Is childhood something to be cherished and valued or is childhood simply a means by which we get to adulthood.  

 Do our children deserve our respect in the way we respect our fellow adults?  Or do they need to be taught respect?

 While I want to to say Yes to all the former sentences…if I am being honest, I do sometimes think the latter.  It’s so much easier as a teacher to always maintain a strong image of the child and I often wonder how the parents miss it…But as a Mom myself, I understand how I the parent often revert back to thinking of my children as helpless, ignorant, and misguided in their intentions. 

 But in those times when I am not respectful of my children, I notice there are more tantrums, whining, aggression, and opposition.  When I realize I have hurried them (temporally and developmentally), yelled, patronized, etc… I am often left feeling disappointed in myself and my children.

Those moments are unavoidable but I do think we can learn from them.  We can learn about ourselves and our children and begin the path to understanding.

A beautiful collaboration that began with this little girl's bravery in asking me for the paint squeeze bottle, my willingness to listen and trust, and a little boy's enjoyment of a partnership...

She squeezes paint onto his vehicle, and then he moves it over the paper.  And then again and again until the paint runs out.

She really seemed empowered and you could see she felt needed and was seen as an expert by the little boy.  Not once did he try and take the bottle, he respected her need to squeeze and he was "driven" to keep this interaction going.

Children often seem to understand and respect one another so much easier than adults do... The little boy (Above) loved the blue balls and rolled them through the tunnel.  The other little boy (blonde, below) repeatedly handed them back to him with knowledge that this little boy had a special enjoyment for that particular color.